Government sets out ‘essential’ role of social work in integrated services

Emphasising people's strengths, coordinating care around the person and challenging other professionals key aspects of social work role

Social workers have an “essential” role to play in integrated services in upholding people’s rights, coordinating support and challenging other professionals, but need support from senior management to make this a reality.

That was the message from an advice note issued yesterday by the Department of Health, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Adults Principal Social Workers Network.

The paper emphasised the importance of the social model of disability sitting alongside the medical model in integrated health and social care services and that social workers were essential to making this happen.

Social work’s contribution

It said that social work brought the following skills to integrated teams:

strengths-based practice that focuses on what individuals can do and mobilies community resources to support and protect them;

the ability to coordinate support around the person and remove bureaucratic barriers to people receiving the support they want;

a risk enabling, rather than a risk averse approach, that supports people to make their own decisions;

knowledge of legal frameworks, including the Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act, and how to apply them in individual situations;

constructive challenge to other professionals in relation to upholding people’s rights;

The note was drawn up on the back of an event last year for directors of adult social services and PSWs, held by chief social worker for adults Lyn Romeo. It is chiefly targeted at directors and PSWs to help them realise the contribution of social workers to making integrated health and social care services work.

Tips for managers

The paper set out a number of tips for senior managers in realising social workers’ contribution to integration. These included:

that the social work contribution to the integrated service must be clear and communicated to staff at all levels;

that practitioners receive professional leadership and social work supervision.

senior support for social work within the service, including the presence of senior managers with a social work background.

communicating good news stories about social work’s contribution around the service.

performance monitoring based on personal outcomes for people rather than quantitative data, which is more likely to highlight the social work contribution.

10 Responses to Government sets out ‘essential’ role of social work in integrated services

If we are so essential, why are we so disrespected, ignored, underpaid and ignored? Why are we held to blame for every mistake, somehow responsible for every service, verbally abused some days and physically abused others because we knocked on a door with a smile and a mobile phone and asked if we could help?

Why are the government forcing locum social workers to pay PAYE, saying they are employees, even though their contracts are usually only 3 months with no employee benefits whatsoever and often find it difficult to integrate with the teams due to resentment and misunderstandings.

Do not insult us by saying we are essential because we are leaving in droves due to this Governments restrictive legislation which prevents us from providing the services that are needed; I did not vote to live in a dictatorship.

A very poor account of Social Work as an energising, creative, client centred, personal growth and development focussed profession. The ADSS should hang their heads in shame having capitulated to the DoH and settled for little more than an administrative role.

Lyn Romeo a Government poodle. Sick of her and sick of being told my job is to do whatever the Government wants me to do. Glad I’m leaving the job soon, Social Work is pointless in the current climate. Am I expected to believe that the Government cares about vulnerable people. Dow with the Tories

I am assuming that up holding rights includes human rights and the appropriate challenge to other professionals includes includes challenging Raceism, sexism, ageism, homophobia Islamophobia and attitudes to disability in service delivery. The words dignity and indepedance don’t appear but I assume they are covered by being ” risk enabling”. I note community social work is not recognised as the focus is on the individual even though we as social workers recognise that the difficulties those we seek to help face often arise out of social inequality, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, discrimination, and inadequate housing.

I wish I could believe these august bodies mean what they say, but I am struggling to do so. Integrated working in many mental health settings (not all) has seen social workers becoming Community Psychiatric Nurses who can’t prescribe and certainly not being treated as bringing anything of value to the table. In many hospitals (again not all), social workers are regarded as people who prevent speedy discharge by insisting on finding out about the patients and their circumstances and wishes and treating them as human beings. This has been fostered by our superiors who have betrayed social work values and given in to Health and their particular model at every juncture – it’s not integration; it’s takeover. There’s about 20 years of this attitude and culture to eradicate and I’m not sure a paper is going to cut it.

The minute social work stops feeling like a privilege then give it up. Walk away. No guns to the head of any social worker making them do the job. In 20 years I’ve never heard any social workers beg the social workers who are desperate to leave to stay on and fight some more! It’s about the social work, not the social workers.
Social work is vital in integrated services. We need strong adult social workers more than ever before. If that’s not you, if you’re too worried about PAYE or the Tories or anything else then that’s fine. Move on and leave the social work to all of those who want to do the job. You won’t be missed.

With such a bigoted narrow minded and naïve opinion I am amazed that you even have the audacity to call yourself ‘social worker’. A privilege? What gives you the right to stand yourself on a pedestal? There is no privilege in being a social worker – yes, we are essential because occasionally we are the voice for those who wouldn’t or couldn’t be heard, we can be the person to help someone to rebuild but we cannot be effective if we are not supported. I work 7 days a week in this, my chosen profession, a profession I am passionate about, so do not imply I don’t want to do the job or am desperate to leave. If your attitude is the result of your 20 years then maybe you need to revisit your training to enable you to hone your skills of respect, develop a non judgemental attitude and only then might you escape that ivory tower.

Is it bigoted and narrow minded to have a different opinion to yours? If my opinion differs from yours am I not a social worker? That sounds a bit oppressive to me. We just don’t agree but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to an opinion or a place in the profession.

I think there is a good debate to be had about how we improve social work and I absolutely agree that pay and conditions are essential to continuous improvements. However I just don’t agree with the negative rhetoric about how badly done to we are as social workers.

I am tired of hearing the ‘I am leaving the profession’ talk from experienced social workers. When I consider the calibre of those who are desperate to come into the profession I genuinely am optimistic that the profession will cope with the losses of those who choose not to stay.

I don’t feel “essential” in my team on a fixed term contract, under threat by the powers that be to ro roll out unqualified workers to replace my role, being expected to be grateful to have any job at all.

When you choose a career you expect support to develop and progress in your role, not to be held back and kept in your place, which is at the whim of your employer. They don’t listen to the long term staff who say “it has been tried, it failed and yet we are trying it again anyway”, they continue with it because someone higher up is kept in a job for this “innovative” thinking that can actually be found in the not too distant past should anyone with the authority to do anything about avoiding repeat mistakes care to just look.

I’m jaded with this climate in the public sector and if I could easily jump ship I would, but we all have responsibilities outside of work that can limit our immediate options, so those like me will simply bide their time whilst they can and hope they aren’t pushed before their ready to jump.

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